| Nondescript japanese restaurant with excellent service |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 9/29/2005
Rating: 8.5
My photo gallery
|
One of the agents suggested Midori and we were happy to make the visit. Located of El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, its easy to find and even better was the amount of parking spots available. The decor is a mellow with some ambient lighting going on. Looks like your typical sushi house but there's 1 thing that stands out from the rest of the group....the service. I'll get into that in a bit.
Its been awhile since we've had sushi which is partly my fault. My last couple of visits have left me with a scratchy throat and a paranoid attitude now. I carry benedryl whenever I eat sushi now. I hope its not an allergic reaction as I love to eat sushi. Terry was buying today and couldnt resist on not taking him to the cleaners. I ordered the hamachi, hamachi with green onions, true torro, midori roll.
hamachi - nigiri cut, deep red color, I didnt like 1 cut of the fish, it was too cold, almost frozen. The 2nd cut was much better and almost melted in my mouth. I dont understand why the 2nd piece would be different than the 1st. I would assume they were cut right after each other. Im on the fence about ordering this again. (Picture #7)
midori roll - assorted tempura fish (fully cooked). its the house special and runs about $8. A lot of chewing involved for this roll, 2 layers of seaweed and giant helping of rice, sprinkled sesame seeds, and a siracha mix. Average tasting overall, I'd probably order it again. (Picture #8)
hamachi with green onions - the fish in this one appeared to be more like the hamachi Im used to getting, more of a white pink color. The small maki rolls are a favorite of mine and normally order this on each visit. Todays roll was very good and had more fish than rice. Easily a repeat order (Picture #9)
true toro - I ordered Maguro initally than I caught the toro on the whiteboard. I changed my order and ordered the $9 delight. When I bite into any toro type nigiri, its should be the texture of a honeydew and melt in your mouth. You shouldnt have to chew much. I take my 1st bite and craaaap....it was horrid. It was almost frozen and like eating steak. I had to chew and some of the pieces COULD NOT be broken down. I spat it out and buried into my napkin. YUCK.
I called the waitress over to confirm my cut of fish and I told her I did not enjoy it. She quickly called the manager Jeff over. Jeff takes care of his customers. He didnt doubt me or ask too many questions, Jeff assured me it would be quickly taken off the bill and repeatedly apologized. He was genuine about the situation and I could tell it wasnt fake or anything. Not only did he take care of the toro, he had been running around all lunch helping other customers.
Jeff is the benchmark on how service should be at any restaurant. He's playful with the customers and if you need anything, HE RUNS!!! Yes, thats right, if you ask for ginger, he will run from your table and grab it at the bar and haul back to your table. He's the same person that made the change to my order, I barely raised my hand, he quickly ran over to my table and back to the bar....done. HE TOOK CARE OF BUSINESS. He also filled our waters and tea. This guy is the superman of Service.
Midori serves fresh tasting fish and although my toro wasnt up to par, Im thinking it was a fluke that I ran into something that bad. All my other sushi and terry's was good and wouldnt hesistate making a return visit. In fact, Jeff is our new jatbar BENCHMARK when it comes to service. I dont think it can get any better. Midori is open late and Ive talked to other people who have been, and we are all in agreement that Midori and Jeff make an great combination when it comes to sushi.
|
| |
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 724
Reviewed: 10/3/2005
Rating: 7.5
My photo gallery
|
Midori was a request and we were happy to fill it. The place was a bit boring on the outside, but that matters very little in our book - its all about the food. Well maybe not entirely, but good food outweighs bad everything else.
Midori was pleasant on the inside and thankfully wasn't too crowded. The hyper-kinetic waiter (manager?) was on us in a heartbeat and frenetically showed us to our table. I believe he was on speed or something equivalent. He was the most attentive waitperson I think we have ever encountered in our 500+ restaurants. I'm sure Jason mentions specific examples.
The food, however, wasn't mind-blowing. It was just OK in my opinion. I went with a Kani roll, a California Roll, and a tuna roll, and a special which included a tuna roll and a shrimp tempura roll.
the shrimp tempura roll was decent. Not the best, but certainly edible. The Tuna roll isn't my favorite, but I happily ate it up and was satisfied. The kani roll was 100% immitation and kinda sucked. It was a waste of money in my opinion. The california roll was heavy on the avocado. If you like avocado its a good roll. I found it, however, to be kinda bland. The kani again was not good. The avocado was the highlight for sure.
|
| |
|
|
Reviewer: Grace
Total Reviews: 42
Reviewed: 11/3/2005
Rating: 8
My photo gallery |
I actually stumbled upon this place on one of my late night runs on El Camino. I eat at weird hours most of the time and it's hard to get good food. I think I was driving around on El Camino around 10pm looking for something good to eat. I passed by Midori at first, noting that they had late night specials and karaoke. I originally passed it up because I wasn't sure that it was open, and I assumed that if I had sushi that late, that I would end up eating something I would regret later.
Anyways, third time up the street heading back in the direction of home, I noticed that their sign said midnight special, so my boyfriend and I figured we would give it a try and see if it was open. By that time it was around 10:30 nearing 11pm. I think the manager was working that night, a jolly Asian man. He was so nice and funny, he gave me this weird wooden sculpture thingy and I had no idea what it was for. He explained that if I needed anything, I could push the button and he would come. He also explained to me that if my boyfriend was 'touching me' that I should push the button and he would come beat him up (hehehe).
So during the course of the meal, he would remind me of the button, and making sure my boyfriend wasn't molesting me (heh). He was hilarious and he took some time to talk about the restaurant and explain why karaoke night wasn't happening anymore.
We ordered a rainbow roll, 2 orders of philadelphia rolls, a dragon roll, and a bowl of udon. I also ordered chirashi sushi, as I love it when it's made good =)
I started out with some edamame, which they served warm and slightly salted. It was really good, and they gave a big portion of it. It was also salted just right, so I wasn't fiending for water and the edamame itself tasted very good.
The chirashi was decent, there were 4 kinds of fish in it, and I kindly ignored the ikura by rolling it out of sight. There were no seasonings of any kind on the rice, and it was all common fish. I appreciate it when I get a variety of fish instead of a lot of one fish, or mostly common sashimi. The rainbow rolls and dragon rolls were standard as well. I was impressed that the food was so good at that late an hour, so perhaps their food is spectacular during peak hours.
The udon was good, the broth was tasty, and they had a lot of ingredients in it. It came in a big hot black cast iron type bowl on top of a piece of wood. It looked really hot, so I didn't touch it until after the boyfriend was done with it.
My only disappointment was with the philadelphia rolls as they only put a little teeny tiny dab of cream cheese on it. I like the ingredients to take a 1/3 proportion or 1/2 salmon, 1/4th of avocado and 14th of cream cheese. I couldn't taste that it was in there, and I thought it was left out until I opened up a piece of sushi to look for it and saw a little smear along the seaweed. Well I guess it's healthier, but defies the point of putting it in the roll.
The prices were a bit high in my opinion, but I'm not complaining because they are open late, and it's a gratifying late night experience for the late eater. I'm willing to pay a bit more for some good late night food, and I was impressed with the quality I got at that time of night. They also have a pretty good selection on their menu, which is always a plus. |
| |
|
|
| Disclaimer |
|
|
